Sons’ forgiveness in Khashoggi murder ‘parody of justice’: UN expert

GENEVA (HRNW) – The decision by the sons of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to “forgive” their father s killers was just another step in Saudi Arabia s “parody of justice”, a UN expert said Friday.

Although “shocking” the announcement “was anticipated”, said Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

The independent rights expert, who does not speak for the United Nations but who reports her findings to it, maintained that the Saudi authorities were “playing out what they hope will be the final act in their well-rehearsed parody of justice”.

And they were doing so “in front of an international community far too ready to be deceived” she said in a statement.

Khashoggi — who was close to the Saudi royals but became a critic — was killed and dismembered at the kingdom s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, in a case that tarnished the reputation of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.